


Pulse

by crmsndragonwngs



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Character Study, F/M, Gen, Horses, Manga Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-03
Updated: 2016-05-03
Packaged: 2018-06-06 03:23:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6736069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crmsndragonwngs/pseuds/crmsndragonwngs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The air in the barn is warm and earthy, and far from the stagnant coldness that hangs in the halls of the CCG’s Headquarters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pulse

**Author's Note:**

> _And through the mineral reef beyond_  
>  _The shallows, into the deep,_  
>  _This seraph led me, into a lapse of time._  
> [Pulse](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHJkf-Xlb10)  
>  Erra

The air in the barn is warm and earthy, and far from the stagnant coldness that hangs in the halls of the CCG’s Headquarters. It moves here, like the gentle waves in tide pools, with soft whuffs and whooshes as the horses lay down for the night, content in their lives as beasts of burden. 

It is...peaceful. A rare phenomenon.

Ui Koori rattles the bucket in his hand, the sharp clatter of feed pellets reminding him of quinque steel against marble floors, and smiles when a large grey head pokes out from a stall window ahead.

The mare is big, and talented, and as snow white as a horse can be, but she is easily the sweetest horse in the entire barn. Such a contrast considering her merits. Ui rubs her head, speaking to her in a low voice, then shoos the mare back so that he can dump the feed into her bucket.

He watches her eat, digging into her dinner with zeal and smacking loudly when she lifts her head to look at him. She’s waiting for him to drop cookies and peppermints into it, he is sure, and that is familiar too.

Ihei had eaten messily and loudly that day, all of those days, so long ago now. Every lunch they shared at train stations because they were always moving; her begging him for whatever he left on his plate, even if he was still eating it. Every breakfast they had rushed through at the cafeteria; her asking trivia questions while he tried to force down day old pastries. He remembers feeling annoyed at her constant joyfulness. He regrets that now.

Now that his only clear memory of her is of her body in one place and her head in another, her eyes blank and fixed and staring, and he can’t believe that his first thought had been of melon bread. And his second of how her eyes had never really been anything but blank and fixed and staring anyway.

He watches the grey mare finish her dinner and move back to her hay, where she had certainly been before. He closes his eyes, listens to her soft munching, breathes in the warm and earthy smell of the barn. It moves, like the waves in tide pools, with the snorting and sighing of sleeping horses, content in their lives as beasts of burden.

But, like the small animals that inhabit tide pools, he cannot stay here. The ocean waits, pulling him back into its turmoil, tossing him against the seafloor to remind him that he is nothing more than a beast himself, wishing hard that he could be content with losing his best friend.

**Author's Note:**

> [The sound of horses eating hay](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dlku5X0GZIo), because it’s seriously one of the most relaxing sounds in the world. 
> 
> Anyway, I’ve been meaning to write this since we learned that Ui rides horses. I imagine him as an [eventer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eventing), and his horse as a big, [grey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray_\(horse\)), off track Thoroughbred mare.


End file.
